 Opelika Auburn News - To his brothers and sisters in arms, Adrian L. Avila was a comrade and fellow serviceman.
To Ruben Avila and Donna Lawson, he was their son. 
Both groups, along with dozens of friends, gathered at
Jeffcoat-Trant Funeral Home Thursday to pay tribute to Avila, 19, who
died Oct. 29 of injuries sustained in a non-combat-related accident
while supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom in Kuwait.
The fact that her son opted to serve in the U.S. Army is something Lawson said was indicative of his sense of self-sacrifice.
“He always cared more for others than he did for himself,” Lawson
said. “He had a hard life, but he wasn’t going to let anyone bring him
down. All he wanted to do is serve his country, make something of
himself and do the right thing.”
These were goals U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class James Dunkley said Avila accomplished in his short life.
“If there was one soldier you could always call on and depend on,
Spc. Avila was that soldier,” Dunkley said as he stood near Avila’s
flag-draped coffin.
Sgt. Bernard Murray, who recruited Avila a couple of years ago, agreed.
“He (Avila) had a true sense of patriotism,” Murray added.
While some remember him as a soldier and son, Kevin Danford said
he’ll remember Avila as a friend who had a passion for the Army and
loved to work on his car in his spare time.
“He was always in a good mood,” said Danford, who had been friends
with Avila for about five years. “You never saw him without a smile on
his face.”
Avila will be interred Friday at Fort Benning (Ga.) Cemetery. ==Another news story== The Associated Press --Adrian Avila found ways to keep busy in the desert of Kuwait, but was perhaps best known for hunting scorpions. "My
husband Chris and Avila had just been hunting scorpions the night
before this terrible tragedy," April Holderfield, who along with her
husband served with Avila, wrote in an online message board. James
Owens, who wrote on the message board that he was Avila's roommate,
said "it's not been the same without him coming in here every day all
excited about some car he had seen online, or some scorpion he found
out in the desert, or telling me about some gun he had seen." "He was a great kid who was always happy and he will be missed very much." Avila,
19, of Opelika, Ala., died Oct. 29 at Khabari Crossing, Kuwait, after a
noncombat incident. The Alabama Army National Guardsman was assigned to
Fort Payne. His mother, Donna Lawson, said her son joined to serve his country and make something of himself. "He
always cared more for others than he did for himself," she said. "He
had a hard life, but he wasn't going to let anyone bring him down." Avila is also survived by his father, Ruben Avila. | 
I would just like to say thank you for your service and sacrifice for our Country. And to your family and loved ones, I wish to extend my deepest sympathy.
A grateful citizen